Separation of Church and State

[syrakusos]

In a different topic, the Ninth Doctor trotted out the Treaty with Tripoli which declared that the United States is not a Christian nation. While it is true that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." it is important not paste your own views on top of that. It is also true that in a private letter many years later, Thomas Jefferson refered to a "wall" separating church and state. Much, also, has been made of that.

Moreover, it is important to understand US Constitutional law and how it relates to the states. For instance, the Second Amendment has never been incorporated to the states, so states regulate the ownership and possession of firearms. Similarly, not until 1821 was the Constitution of Masschusetts amended to remove the delivery of tax money to the congregational church. That same constitution contains several phrases of "church and state" together. They were never "separated."

Following the Civil War, several Southern states wrote new constitutions modeled on Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, both of which had (and still have) religious tests for office. You can believe in any kind of God you want, as long as you swear that you believe in God. When the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned its religious test in 1991, that pretty much put an end to the practical application of religious tests at the state level. However, the laws are still on the books in Texas, Tennessee, and other states.

[9thdoctor]

There are historical legal inconsistencies concerning “The Wall”, no question about it. I wrote (elsewhere) that the Treaty with Tripoli is only useful when debating with a Pat Robertson type who’s claiming the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation. It pricks their bubble, after they’ve conflated the stories about prayers at the Constitutional Convention and what have you.